Brit in Bangkok

Prepared For a Holiday, But No Holiday :(

Me, Tua and Am - cool sunglasses, eh?

Am and Tua - Tua likes to pose, pretending she's a fashion model :-)

I was supposed to go on a 3 day mini-holiday this weekend to Phuket, with some women from work.  Of course, we can't, as both airports in Bangkok are closed as they've been taken over by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who are now on their way to becoming a terrorist group.

So, at work on Thursday, we made the best of the situation by modelling our new crazy sunglasses. 

And as far as the holiday goes, we're hoping to reschedule the holiday for the end of December if the stupid political situation is over by then.

Christmas Gift

My Dad told me yesterday that he and my Mum would be sending me some money for Christmas.  I was initially going to spend it buying some things on websites in the US, but then I decided because of the political mess in Thailand and the airports in Bangkok currently being closed, the Thai economy probably needed the money more.  So, I went to Kinokuniya bookstore and bought some books I wanted (got a David Sedaris book, a new children's book, the complete novels of Sherlock Homes (amazing deal at only $7.50), and a book by Ian Rankin (one of my favorite British detective novel writers).  I also bought a membership card to Kinokuniya.  At $14.20, it's a great deal, because it gives you 10% off everything you buy at Kinokuniya for a year.  I spend so much money there every year that it will have paid for itself in about 2 months.  I already saved $2.90 yesterday, just on the books I bought then.

I plan on spending the rest of my Christmas money at Chatuchak Market, with my friend Tua tomorrow :-)

Someone needs to tell Obama, he's not President yet.

Every time I turn on the TV, Obama is having a news conference talking about the economy and what should be done.  If I remember correctly, isn't it January before he becomes President?  Maybe he should be a bit quieter until he's actually sworn in?

And this is coming from someone who actually supports Obama.  I can only imagine what those who don't support him think!

Christmas Is Here

   

Christmas trees are already up in Bangkok.  This one is outside the enormous mall, Central World, (used to be known as 'World Trade Center').  I love this photo as I like the image of the guy sitting below. I took it from the skybridge that leads into Central World mall.

A Couple of Days with Mike

Mike at Au Bon Pain at Siam Discovery Mall

 

Im and Tua at Coffee Beans

 

Mike and Tua at Coffee Beans by Dao at Central World Mall

 

The Four of Us at Coffee Beans by Dao

My friend, Mike, was visiting Bangkok over the last two days from the US.  I haven’t seen him in 10 years, so it was wonderful to see him.  He’s such a nice guy too, so we always have a great time.

On Wednesday night, I took him to Suan Lum Night Bazaar, Thursday morning we went shopping and had lunch at MBK Mall, and then on Thursday evening went with my friends Tua and Im to Central World.  We ate dinner at Coffee Beans by Dao (awesome Massaman Curry and Cheesecake), and had a really fun time.  Tua, Im and Mike hit it off really well, so we laughed pretty much all night.

I was really sad to see him go last night.  He’s on a tour and they’re now going to the River Kwai to spend two nights, then down to Southern Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

My Morning View

This is the view I see every morning on the underground on my way into work.  Wall to wall people.  There are just too many people in Bangkok and half of them must ride the underground every day!  I really, really, really miss my car!

3-in-1 Coffee

One drink that is popular all over Asia is 3-in-1 coffee. Basically, that means that it has coffee, cream and sugar all in one small packet and is a very convenient way to make coffee at  home or to take to work. There are stacks of this type of coffee at supermarkets in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the rest of S.E. Asia.

I don't drink it very often as I'm not a huge fan of the taste (too sweet!), but it is handy to have some in the house, just in case I ever run out of milk and desperately need caffeine.  I discovered this new one this weekend at the grocery store.  It's Nescafe 3-in-1, but has less sugar in it than their regular 3-in-1 coffee.  The taste isn't too bad, although it still has a lot more sugar than I would like, but it's definitely drinkable.  And at only 38 baht (about $1.10) for 10 packets, that's about 11 cents per cup, so it won't break the bank either. It only has 95 calories per cup too, which is probably less than a normal cup of coffee for me.

Loy Krathong

Pink and yellow bread 'krathongs' with incense and candles at my local supermarket. These krathongs will be floated on rivers and streams all over Bangkok.  They're also wonderful environmentally, as they just break up in the water and usually get eaten by fish.

It was Loy Krathong yesterday, the Thai festival that is held on the full moon in the 12th month of the Buddhist calendar, which usually falls in November.  The festival celebrates the Lord Buddha and is a time when Thais float ("loy") small banana leaf or bread boats ("krathongs") and ask for forgiveness and good luck.

This year, I didn't celebrate Loy Krathong as I had dinner at Ootoya, a local Japanese restaurants, with my friend Tua and her mother.  But, there were krathongs available all over Bangkok to buy and float on any body of water you can find.  The krathongs in the photographs are made of dyed pieces of bread and were for sale for 30 baht (about 92 cents) at Carrefour, my local supermarket.

Buying Shoes

Gay and Sue, buying shoes

Sue, can't find her shoe size!

This is my friend Sue who teaches at the school I used to teach at in Bangkok, and her co-teacher, Gay.  We went to Chatuchak Market for lunch and shopping.  I bought two pairs of slippers, a pair of pants, a couple of gifts for some women at work, and a bit of food and fruit juice.  Fun day!

We got a taxi coming back and, when the taxi driver pulled up, I knew him (Amazing in a city of almost 13 million people!).  He used to be a security guard at my apartment building.  The weird thing is, this is now the SECOND time I've hailed a taxi and he's been the driver :-)

Spaghetti

Here you can see a pan of spicy spaghetti (I don't buy this one, it's really spicy,) and a huge pan of cream sauce with mushrooms and ham

The two lovely women who work at the spaghetti stall

There's a stall at the market near my office that sells spaghetti, fish, and chicken salad.  I love this place, and eat food from there at least two or three times a week.  I sometimes even take the spaghetti and sauce home with me for dinner.  It's 50 baht ($1.42) for spaghetti (quite expensive, as most dishes at the market are 25-30 baht ( 70 cents to 85 cents per dish), but delicious.  They make white cream sauce chock full of mushrooms and ham, or a spicy tomato sauce with pork.  The chicken salad has all the usual salad veggies, a huge bag of mayonnaise (which is how Thais eat salad) and a big chunk of fried chopped up chicken.  Yum.

The two women who work at the stall are so nice, always smiling, always helpful, and always trying to talk to me even though my Thai is still so dismal.

Barack Obama Elected President

You don't really need to say anything else but that. Looks like we will FINALLY have a US President that we can be proud of.  Bye bye Bush! Congratulations President-Elect Obama :-)

Flowers

Thailand really is incredibly cheap for some things - flowers being one of them.  I bought these flowers today at my local supermarket, Carrefour.  There were stacks of them by the freezer section and, when I looked at the price, I couldn't resist. 10 baht.  Yep, 29 cents.  Unbelievable, huh?  And so pretty.

Chatuchak Market - Goodies!

Thai drinks cart at Chatuchak Market - this one was selling coconut juice, and two kinds of flower juices I don't know the names of.

Handwoven place mats with drinks coasters and chopsticks ($4 each).

It's a long time since I've been to Chatuchak Market (otherwise known as J.J. here).  So, today, I had a spare $100 and decided I'd go and spend it.  Normally, I have a list of things I want to buy when I go to Chatuchak but, today, I went with nothing in mind and just bought things I thought were pretty.  Overall, I spent around 3,100 baht (about $83) but I got some amazing things for that.

One hand-thrown pottery cup with lid - $6.30 and a hand-thrown pottery bowl - $5.60

Green hand-lacquered bamboo bowl and a handwoven small odds-and-ends basket ($6.75 and $1).

Brown handwoven bag with leather handles and a dark brown handwoven basket (which I'm using to hold books) The bag was $6.80 and the basket was $7.

Green striped pants, and long different floral fabrics skirt. The pants were $6.66 and the long floral skirt was$6.90.

Bag of cut fresh fruit (mango ) - 60 cents

2 pairs of handmade silver earrings - $14

1 thick, plush white bath towel - $4

2 large plants for my balcony - $1.75

4 small baskets for the rabbits to eat (yes, they eat baskets :-) - $4

It was so much fun to come home and unpack all my treasures.  And my apartment looks lovely now with all the little additions.